ANTH 4501 - Mediterranean Archaeology

This course presents a detailed analysis of the rise of civilization in the Mediterranean from the Stone Age to the Late Iron Age. The course will be comparative, and focus on the regions of the Balkans, Egypt, Greece, the Levant, and Italy. This class examines the archaeology of the ancient Mediterranean from the first inhabitants to the Iron Age. The focus of this course is to comparatively analyze the rise of civilizations in the Mediterranean basin by examining the archaeological record, particularly that of the last 6000 years. Several key issues will be explored, including: 1) the earliest inhabitants of the Mediterranean basin; 2) Neolithic agriculture, society, and ritual; 3) the spread of metallurgy; 4) political formation, and; 5) urbanism.